The Innocents Abroad

Curl up with a good book!
by Mark Twain | Travel |
ISBN: 0895773392 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 6/22/2017
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, June 22, 2017
I found this good-condition hardcover at a local Goodwill thrift shop, and nabbed it for another release copy. (It's published by Readers Digest but is an unabridged edition.)

While I think I liked A Tramp Abroad better, this was very entertaining. Lots of similarities in tone and subject to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men on a Bummel as regards difficulties with calculating exchange rates, coping with foreign languages, scheduling issues, and blithe ignorance of customs, but Twain's more prickly than Jerome, I think.

I've marked lots of places in the book, too many to quote, but I can't resist some. After an American traveler annoyed everyone else in the room by loudly declaring - while dining in France, mind - that "I never dine without wine, sir", adding "I am a freeborn sovereign, sir, an American, sir, and I want everyone to know it!" Twain adds, "He did not mention that he was a lineal descendant of Balaam's ass, but everybody knew that without his telling it."

There's a lot of straightforward travelogue info here, describing sights and scenes that were popular in Twain's day, many of which are still busy tourist destinations. Some are not still available, though - Twain describes his visit to the Paris morgue, where anyone could wander in and view the latest crop of unidentified corpses. [The Morgue is still there I believe, but the bodies are not available for public view anymore.]

Twain can't stick to travelogues indefinitely, though. After describing his visit to Pere Lachaise cemetery (which I was able to visit myself some years back and enjoyed very much), he mentions the tomb of Heloise and Abelard as one of the not-to-be-missed attractions - and then proceeds to tell the tale of those famous lovers in his own inimitable style (and with, perhaps, some slight interpretations of his own - he's clearly anti-Abelard).

Twain had quite a tour, visiting Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and on into the Middle East and to Egypt, climbing Mt. Vesuvius, examining the mummies of the Capuchin monks, criticizing the artwork in the great museums, and having himself a time. An interesting and enjoyable read that may make one want to do some traveling too...

[There's a TV Tropes page on Twain and his works, including a section on this one.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Waterfront Park in Newburyport, Massachusetts USA on Friday, June 23, 2017

Released 6 yrs ago (6/23/2017 UTC) at Waterfront Park in Newburyport, Massachusetts USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I left this book, bagged against the elements, near the elk sculpture in the lovely little waterfront park at around 4 or so. (Had a tasty lunch at the nearby Black Cow pub, and enjoyed the sunshine after the deluge I drove through on my way into town!) Hope the finder enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

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